From: Tom Tweed <ak627@dayton.wright.edu>
To: mclan@postoffice.WORLDNET.ATT.net
by mtigwc02.worldnet.att.net (post.office MTA v2.0 0613 )
with ESMTP id AAA22024 for <mclan@postoffice.worldnet.att.net>;
Fri, 20 Dec 1996 13:07:45 +0000
id <01ID85B1K7Z400HU0C@mailhost.wright.edu> for
mclan@postoffice.worldnet.att.net; Fri, 20 Dec 1996 08:07:25 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Re: 70 TR6 and unleaded petrol solutions?
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 96 13:07:24 +0000
Hello Gene, you wrote :
>I am curious what people with older TR's are doing now that the petrol
>is unleaded. Are there replacement valve seats which need to be put in?
> Lead substitutes-any good brands or sources (local stores seem to be
>phasing out a lot of the brands). Anyone running a stock engine with no
>problems on the unleaded stuff? I am in Calif. & we might have other
>additives that might cause problems. Any input will be appreciated.
>
>Gene M.
>70TR6 CC52098
Sorry for the delay in answering, I was hoping to get back with a short
recommendation before this. It is, do nothing -- provided that you do
not run your car hard, such as frequent hard acceleration right up to
the redline. If you mainly just tour around or drive it into work or
out to the park occasionally, you won't be stressing the valves or
heating up the valve seats enough to worry about. Just use good high-
octane gas, 94 or so an think about those unleaded valve seat inserts
if and when your engine needs to come apart for a rebuild or other
major (head off) work. The addition of lead or lead substitutes, IMS,
dates back about 70 years, before the quality of gasoline was what it
is today, and the main problem with lead is, once you put it in, you
need something else to help clean it out to avoid deposits on your valve
stems & elsewhere, and therein lies the problem.
I drove my '68 TR-250, '69 TR-6 R 650cc M.C., and '74 Trident 750cc M.C.
for years on unleaded premium, with no indications of valve trouble,
BUT I did not race them or run them hard, either. The motorcycles, I
think, due to their higher heat loads on the head, especially during
summer, would have been the first to show any valve problems, but I
just didn't have any. The water-cooled TR engines should be even more
resistant to this heat transfer problem, assuming there are no problems
with the cooling system, and again, that they are not raced.
My experience, above, was about the same as many other old car owners,
who discussed this at length in the Hemmings Motor News letters section
a few years ago, and this seems to be the consensus.
Best regards,
Tom Tweed
SW Ohio
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